Present
by Arctimon
Summary: Neku never had to worry about giving his time and energy to anybody before. But now that the Game was over, things will change...with a little help from his Partner. Neku/Shiki.


_**Disclaimer:**__ The World Ends with You and its characters are the property of Jupiter Studios and Square Enix._

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><p>The people of Shibuya kept moving around, trying to get where they needed to be during this crazy time of year.<p>

Neku never really understood the holidays.

Well, maybe the old Neku. The one that hadn't played the Reaper's Game. The one that didn't spend three weeks running around the Underground, battling Noise and deciding the fate of Shibuya itself. The one that didn't care about anyone else but himself.

...OK, maybe he _still_ didn't understand the holidays, but he could bear to participate in them.

Neku readjusted the headphones on his neck. Normally, this would be prime opportunity to slap them on and let his music whisk away the bustle of the city. However, part of his new lease on life was at least hearing what the people had to say for themselves.

Nowadays, all they were saying were "Did I get this?" or "Why is this not discounted?".

The city was noisy, as always, and Neku currently was standing next to the statue of Hachiko, the cat's gaze doing nothing to help ease the annoyance around him.

Hey, just because he had grown to tolerate Shibuya doesn't mean that he had to tolerate it all of the time.

"Neku!"

He heard the yell from halfway across the square, even with all of the conversation around him. He smiled slightly, turning his head to see a girl running up to him.

"Sorry I'm late, Neku. Mr. Mew needed a few winter clothes for today."

He did not immediately respond to her arrival nor the new green sweater around her black stuffed cat. He instead looked at the preposterous red knitted hat that was on her head.

"Are those baubles?"

"It doesn't matter what they are; I had a ton of them left over from the holidays. So I improvised."

"You improvised something that could be mistaken for a cat toy."

Her retort was her tongue sticking out at him. "You'll regret that comment one of these days."

"But not today."

Shiki did not respond, instead starting to dig through her coat pockets. Neku took the opportunity to look her over.

During the course of the first week of the Reaper's Game, Neku had learned that Shiki's appearance was not her own; it was of her best friend Eri. Jealous of Eri's talent and looks, her body served as her entry fee for the week. By the time they had beaten Yodai Higashizawa on the seventh day, she had learned about accepting herself for...well...herself, and had been whisked off for a second chance in the real world.

And then things happened. Things that Neku didn't want to think about.

All of that was in the past, and now Shiki's true appearance was standing in front of him. Having seen the photo on her phone of both her and Eri, he had not been totally surprised when he had met up with all of his new friends after the Game. _Feeling_ her glomp him, however, was a totally new experience.

And now here she was again. She had her usual attire on: a black shirt hidden by her oversized green jacket, an off-white skirt stopping at her knees, and black leggings. The only adjustment was the aforementioned hat, her snow boots,and heavy winter gloves, neither of which seemed to faze her in the slightest.

The appearance was different, but the attitude was most certainly the same.

"How was your holiday?"

He shook his head, bring his brain back to the real world. "Fine, for the most part." Neku made sure his headphones were off, wanting to do the polite thing. "Would've been better if a certain someone hadn't dragged me around Shibuya to sing Christmas carols."

"Hey, Rhyme wanted to do it, and I wasn't going to say no."

"Her I don't have a problem with," he retorted. "Warn me and my ears next time Beat decides to come along."

Shiki laughed as she leaned on Hachiko. "I'll have to get him some singing lessons next year. Speaking of presents..."

"Hmm?" He looked down to see a wrapped box in her hands. "I thought we weren't giving each other presents."

"_You_ said we weren't. I never agreed to that."

"Shiki..."

Neku got cut off by the box suddenly being shoved into his gut. "Just open it, you dope."

He looked down at the long box. It was wrapped in blue and orange paper, adorned with some sort of fanciful bow on top with way too much glitter on it.

"A box? Wow, Shiki, you shouldn't have."

"No, you idiot," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "It's inside the box."

"I was joking. I think I know how the holidays work, thanks."

Her only response was a punch in the arm. "Open it."

Neku took the wrapping paper apart carefully, his mind wondering what on Earth she would have gotten him. He had specifically told her not to get him presents, not with the past few weeks they had to endure. The fact that they were even still alive was more than enough-

"Woah."

He stole a glance at his friend, who was very determined to look in any other direction other than his. Ignoring her for the moment, he gingerly took his present out of the box and took it to his hands.

It was definitely wool (he could tell that much), and it was woven very tight together, almost like a quilt. The shade of purple was almost a complete match to his shirt, with what appeared to be a black pattern on the top of it.

"You know how you don't wear any jackets, like, ever?"

Neku looked down again, Shiki shrinking further into her collar.

"I figured that you were cold or something so I decided to make you some stuff so that you don't have to worry about being cold and being dumb about it-"

"Shiki. Take a chill pill."

He had never realized how damn cold his arms were until he had the handmade sleeves in his hand. They even _felt_ warm, and he hadn't even put them on yet.

"Wow."

Neku slid them onto his arms, the feeling of warmth increasing tenfold. His fingers poked through the holes on the end, almost like biker gloves. They even fit correctly, something that even his parents had difficulty doing when it came down to clothes.

"You made these?" he asked in disbelief.

Shiki went red, her hat doing nothing to mask the blush on her face. "Yeah, I did." Not getting a response, she continued on hurriedly. "I was going to make socks as well, but I figured not a lot of people could ever pull off the fashion of having knee-high socks, and especially not any guys I know."

"You dream about making clothing for all of your guy friends?"

And now the blush was back. "Besides you and Beat, I don't have any guy friends."

He left that statement alone. "How'd you even know what my measurements are? The last time you came at me with a tape measure, I hid in Edoga for about an hour."

"I guesstimated."

"...You're going to make me bring the 'stalker' nickname back, aren't you?"

Shiki looked up at him for the first time, her eyes maginifed by her large glasses. "Hey, as a future seamstress, I'm suppose to be good at these sorts of things. And your arms are very lanky to begin with, so it wasn't like I needed a lot of fabric to-"

"Shiki."

Now her patience was wearing thin. "Are you even going to let me finish a single-"

Before she knew it, she felt his arms around her shoulders, her gaze now full of his chest. Not fully realizing what was happening, she squirmed her head to see that...

Neku was hugging her.

Holy crap.

The burning in her cheeks was at a maximum now. Never in the short time she had known Neku had he ever displayed any sort of physical contact with her. Or anyone, really.

But it definitely felt nice. Slowly, her arms wrapped around his waist, reciprocating his hug.

"Thanks, Shiki."

"You're welcome."

Another long moment passed.

"You...can let go of me now."

"Oh. Right." Neku leaned back up, feeling his own cheeks burn.

"Do you know what you're going to put into the holder?"

"The what?" He looked down at his wrist, and immediately realized what the black part was for. Upon closer examination, there were seven circular indentations all along the top of the plastic-esque black part. They looked like they could almost fit-

"Your pins, Neku."

The pins, even though they no longer carried any special powers (much to Neku's dismay), had become somewhat of a hot topic around the city of Shibuya. Many of the shops around the main shopping district had started selling the pins as accessories to their brand of clothing. Naturally, their popularity skyrocketed, and Neku saw that within a few days of the Game ending, almost everyone could be seen wearing at least one.

Of course, no one could actually explain where the pins came from, or who made them, but that was something that the world was better off not knowing.

Neku stuck his hand in his pants pocket, where he kept his myriad amount of pins in a small red pouch. "Well, since we're on the subject of displaying these, there are a couple of obvious ones."

He pulled out a black pin with a white skull, and clicked it into the first spot. The Player Pin. The one that had started it all.

His second pin was a red one, with a stylized flame on top. Pyrokinesis, as he recalled.

"Your first one," Shiki reminisced. "Didn't I give that one to you?"

"You probably did." Neku placed it in his second spot. "I was too busy being slapped around by Noise at the time."

The third was a dark blue pin, a blue and yellow thunderbolt down the center. "Personal favorite of mine."

"Always with the Lightning Rook, huh? I didn't peg you for a Pegaso person."

"Hey, I was lucky that I had one left over. I wasn't planning on getting one from Pegaso Atelier." He began to fish around his pocket again. "I remember I had one that I got from Beat the other day."

Spotting it, he pulled out a green pin with red lettering on it. "Wild Boar."

Shiki smirked. "That cheapstake gave you the most common one? Kyo was practically giving those away a week ago."

"Well, it's the thought that counts, isn't it?"

"Even if it's as little thought as possible."

Ignoring her, Neku already had his next pin. It was primarily black, with a white-colored flying squirrel on top.

"Rhyme," Shiki whispered. "I wonder if she's doing OK?"

"She's with Beat; she'll be fine. Besides, if she can survive in the Game, I'm sure she can get her stuff together."

Shiki bit her lip, glancing away from him. In truth, Neku wasn't going through the same thing Beat's little sister was. He didn't have to worry about losing his entry fees, whether that had been his memories or even Shiki-

_No_. There it was, creeping up again. He wasn't going to think that. Not now.

"Neku, are you OK?"

He realized too late that he had been staring off into space for a little longer than he though, having to have Shiki bring him back into reality. "Peachy." Dodging her question, he stuffed his hand in his pocket. "Wonder what fruity thing I can think up for Joshua."

Shiki slapped him on the arm. "Look, even I don't like him, but he did keep Shibuya around. So...that's something?"

"Got it."

In his palm was a whilte pin with red and green lines weaving together in the center. Four small flames completed the design.

"Which one's that? I've never seen that one before."

Neki grinned. "One Grain, Infinite Promise."

Shiki snorted. "Of _course_ that would remind you of him. Wordy and philosophical."

"And complicated." Neku placed his fifth pin. He just needed one more.

"Neku, I have an idea about the last one. Hang on a second, I'll give you it."

"Shiki, I don't know if you're aware of this," Neku said with a smile as Shiki rummaged through her jacket, "But you already gave me your present."

"No, you dummy. This."

Shiki stepped up to him and held out her hand.

"Here."

Neku looked down to her open palm. On it was a pin, but it was a brand new one he had never seen in any shop. It was a very dark blue, almost black, with an intricate white symbol across the front. It appeared to be a very ornate mixture between a cross, a square, and a star. Wavy lines touched around the four corners of the square.

"I want you to have mine."

"Yours?" Neku's brain was still busy trying to catch up to his mouth.

"Yes. Mine. It's what I used when I was your partner the first week." Shiki looked down at the ground. "I didn't really get a chance to use it afterwards because...well, you know why." She carefully clicked it into the last slot nearest to Neku's wrist. "I don't need it anymore. Just promise me you won't get rid of it."

Her hand grabbed his own, clutching it tightly. "I never did thank you for saving my life."

"I'm pretty sure you did." Neku whispered. "Multiple times."

She didn't answer him, instead increasing her grip on him. The heat he could feel from her face was almost unbearable.

All of a sudden, she leaned forward, and without a second thought, kissed him on the cheek.

Neku froze. The hugging and the touching was something that he could handle. But that...that was something else.

"I'm..." Shiki trailed off, leaning her head on Neku's shoulder. "I'm not really used to the whole 'feelings' thing. In...case you haven't noticed."

"Oh, I noticed." Neku found some words after a bit. "I'm not an expert on it either. I'm sure we can make do with what we have now." He wrapped his arm around her, the shine of the pin on his wrist shining in the daylight.

"You do realize that with all of this, I'm now forced to get you something next year."

"You don't have to, Neku," Shiki replied. "I'm happy with what I have now."

"...Nah, definitely getting you something now."

"Neku!"

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><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: <strong>Hey, a late holiday fic from the realm of The World Ends with You.

TWEWY is one of my most favorite games of all time, and I highly recommend that anyone who has _not_ played the game do so immediately. The battle system takes some time getting used to, but it's very rewarding once you get a handle on it.

Plus, you know...these two. Neku and his entry fee for the sec-I mean, Shiki. The real Shiki, of course.

The pin situation in something that I wanted to highlight, since I don't believe it was ever addressed in the game. I was trying to figure out whether pins were an Underground exclusive thing or if they existed in the Realground as well and was never really able to find an answer. I think that making them a fashion trend would fit with the game.

Apologies if the ending is sort of abrupt, but 2500+ words is already pushing it. Plus, I have other fics I need to take care of.

Read and review, if you like. Until next time, people.


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